I've been hearing rave reviews of Pillsbury's Gluten Free Funfetti Cake Mix, but until this week I couldn't find it in a store near me. Sad, I know. Anyway, I found the Gluten Free Funfetti mix at my local Walmart the other day, and thought I'd share my take on it with y'all! My sister made the mix into cupcakes and topped them with almond buttercream . . . (think delectable wedding cake, y'all!!)

Flavor:Awesome. These taste exactly like what I remember of the glutenous version of Funfetti cupcakes. I'd do a side by side comparison for y'all because I'm pretty sure that they're exactly the same, but I won't be doing that because . . . Gluten! Lol. They are simply delicious with no weird aftertaste like some Gluten Free mixes give you. I'd declare the flavor of these a ten out of ten! :)

Texture:Perfect. There's no dryness or grittiness whatsoever. My favorite part, however, is they are light and airy with no denseness at all.In fact, texturally, these may be the very best cupcakes I've had since going Gluten Free. I'd give the texture a ten out of ten.

Price:Not bad at all. This mix is $2.98 at my Walmart versus around $4.00 for other similar Gluten Free Cake Mixes I have purchased. They're still more expensive than the glutenous version, but that's on par for almost all Gluten Free products. I wasn't shocked or disappointed. I'm giving the price a ten out of ten, because it's more reasonable than any other Gluten Free Cake mixes I've tried.

Overall:I think this mix is absolutely fantastic, the taste is fantastic, they're light and airy and more cost effective than other Gluten Free Cake Mixes I've seen. I'm very excited about this product, and I would definitely recommend it to y'all as well as buying it again myself!! So go out and get one for the weekend, bake it up into cupcakes or another fun application, come back here and post your creation so we can all see how fun the "funfetti" can be!!

As usual, all opinions expressed within this review are mine and mine alone. Pillsbury doesn't have a clue who I am.

As you can tell, they aren't an exact or perfect match to Sulley, but they're pretty close, and would make the PERFECT snack for a movie night . . . assuming you're watching Monsters, Inc!! ;) Or another Pixar Movie!

What's your favorite Pixar Movie? I love Monsters, Inc as much as the next girl, but I'd have to say that my favorite Pixar movie is Brave.

It's Valentine's Day! Which means EVERYTHING is either pink, red or heart shaped, right?My sister made these super cute, Gluten Free heart shaped Double Doozies with Pillsbury Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Buttercream frosting from the Kroger Bakery (yes, you can buy just the frosting.) That she then dyed pink. These were part of our snacks during our movie day! :D

Regardless of what y'all did to celebrate Valentine's Day, I hope it was a great one!!

If you'd like to share what y'all did for Valentine's Day in the comments, feel totally free to. I'd love to hear what y'all did! :)

Okay y'all, just in case yesterday's recipe was too easy for you, I figured I'd share one with a bit more complex steps. ;)On another note . . . this fudge is super duper tasty -- like "hide this, or your family might eat it" all kinds of tasty. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 Cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips

1-14oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3 drops peppermint extract

Recipe:

In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate chips with the sweetened condensed milk and salt.

Once all chips are melted and the mixture has achieved a fudgy texture, remove from heat and fold in vanilla and peppermint oil.

Spread evenly into a foil-lined 8" square pan and chill until firm (around two hours). Then turn the fudge onto a cutting board and cut into squares.

Here's what it looks like fresh out of the pan post chilling:

Here are the first few squares on the cutting board:

Hope y'all enjoy this recipe. If you aren't a huge chocolate mint fan you can switch this up!

Here are a few ideas:

Omit the peppermint extract for plain chocolate fudge.

Use almond extract and add in 1/2 cup of chopped maraschino cherries for chocolate cherry fudge.

Add one cup of chopped nuts: try pecans, walnuts or pistachios.

Omit one cup of chocolate chips and add in two cups of peanut butter chips when melting the fudge.

Whatever flavor you choose to make, this recipe is super simple and would make an awesome gift for any chocolate lover on your Valentine's gift list!

Let me know in the comments if you make this! I'd love to hear what y'all thought of this recipe. Plus, I would love hearing from you -- comments are great!

1) Cream together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy.2) Fold in half of the bag of coconut and the vanilla.3) Drop the above mixture by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a wax paper-lined baking sheet.4) Top with the chocolate sauce and your choice of toasted coconut, almonds, both, or nothing if you choose.5) Put into the refrigerator and allow to chill overnight.

Chocolate Topping:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of half and half or evaporated milk

A dash of salt

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla

1) Place chocolate chips, butter, sugar & milk into a Pyrex measuring cup.2) Microwave for 30 seconds to a minute.3) Stir and add salt.4) Heat until chips are completely melted, add more milk if desired.5) After heating, stir in vanilla and use as topping!

These are delicious. Just make sure to chill them overnight. They need that much time to set!

Let me know in the comments below what y'all think if you choose to make them. :DThat's all for today! I hope y'all have a Marvelous Monday!

Do y'all love these weekly cookbook updates or not? I'll stop them if you don't like them. Honestly. Just let me know in the comments section! ;)

For those of y'all who love the updates, let's get on with it. . . shall we? :D

The cookbook is now AHEAD of schedule!

Amazing what happens when you don't procrastinate, isn't it?

I have a total of two pages to complete, and then it'll be ready to go off to the editor. . . my fabulous mother (who just so happens to be a professional copy editor and proofreader. I know, I hit the jackpot.)

Just like it was last week; the picture is hiding words, but I am letting the recipe title peek out. Can you see it?

Anyway, most of my yesterday looked like that picture above minus the photo covering the text.

I have really been loving the time I've spent writing. It has been much more fun than I had expected going into this project. I'm enjoying getting this cookbook prepared for y'all, and I hope y'all love reading it and making these goodies as much as I loved writing it and making them here. ;)

Look for the cookbook coming early November (in plenty of time for holiday gift giving -- wink, wink) along with more updates on the process between now and then.

Do you see where it says, "You won't believe these are wheat & gluten- free?!?" Well, do you? Because it is the honest to goodness truth. I love these, and so does every person I've introduced them to.

A little back story here, I've always loved Pineapple Upside Down Cake, but have never once made it. In fact, my family has never made it. EVER. Yesterday, everything happened to line up. We happened to have all the ingredients, and I made Pineapple Upside Down Cake for the first time in my LIFE. It was delicious, so I figured I'd share the recipe with y'all! : D So, here we go!!

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup of butter

1 Cup PACKED brown sugar

1 Can of sliced pineapple in 100% Juice. Separate the fruit from the juice, and set the juice aside.

Combine brown sugar and butter in the pan, resulting in something similar to this:

4. Flatten out the butter and sugar mixture. 5. Place the pineapple and cherries into your butter and sugar mixture. It will look like this:

6. Mix together your Yellow Cake Mix according to directions on your box, but instead of using the full amount of milk, use the reserved pineapple juice and the 3 tablespoons of milk. 7. Pour cake mix over the pineapples and cherries, it will look somewhat like this:

8. Put your cake in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Make sure that it's done clear through, and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Once it's out of the oven, it'll look like this:

9. Once it's set, flip onto a plate or serving tray. Voila!

10. Cut into pieces and serve!

I hope y'all enjoy it! My taste tester panel (which includes folks who aren't Gluten Free) said there was no weird or different taste to it based upon its Gluten-Freeness. ;)

Olivia Grace﻿

I'm a sinner saved by grace, a lover of color, a sweet tea drinker, an animal lover, a crafter, a traveler, a Maltipoo owner, an advocate of orphan care, a yoga lover, and that white girl in the back of a Zumba class with no rhythm. Haha. Oh, and my body hates gluten.